This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Buildings, including residential and commercial structures, typically have a frame, a sheathing material over the frame, and an exterior building covering over the sheathing material. A house wrap can also be used, where the house wrap is typically placed between the sheathing material and the exterior building covering to serve as a moisture barrier and inhibit water intrusion into the building. House wraps can also inhibit air intrusion into the building to help to prevent energy loss and mitigate climate control issues. For example, inner sheathing members of a wall and/or roof are covered with various types of building paper, tar paper, roofing felt, house-wrap material, and the like to provide a weather barrier to help block the penetration of air and/or water into the building through an exterior wall or roof. A house wrap made of thermoplastic materials can also be designed to permit water vapor to escape through the exterior wall or roof. Examples of thermoplastic house wrap materials include Tyvek™ HomeWrap, available from DuPont (Wilmington, Del.), and Typar™ HouseWrap, available from BBA Fiberweb (Old Hickory, Tenn.).
Liquid water can sometimes get behind the exterior building covering through cracks or seams in the exterior building covering or through window and door joints. What is more, moisture from the relatively warm interior of the building can penetrate through the sheathing material and the house wrap and can condense into liquid water upon contacting a relatively cold exterior building covering. Liquid water can subsequently become trapped between the house wrap and the exterior building covering and may cause water damage. Trapped water can also encourage growth of mold and mildew, which in turn can cause degradation of building components and health concerns.